It’s amazing what a little encouragement and some guidance in the right direction can do.

I went to the appointment I scheduled with one of Kingley Health’s dietitians and after some initial paperwork, we got down to business.

We talked about my goals, how I feel about myself, my life, my job, my eating habits (which I was brutally honest about) and just about everything to catch her up to speed on me. I guess you could say guts were spilled.

She gave me a packet filled with items that I should focus my efforts on for the next week. The packet included foods I should eat more of and foods I should eat less of.

We went through the lists and I told her which foods I eat a lot of, which I don’t like and which I could but don’t eat much of. I think it’s a great way to really gain perspective on the way you actually eat. If you’re up to it, try making a list of some foods that you eat frequently or are a household favorite and see if you can think of a healthier alternative to use instead.

Anyway, she made some suggestions regarding specific brands or items she recommends. Some items on the list for my first shopping list as a new-eyed consumer that just underwent a healthy revelation: Greek yogurt, particularly Chobani non-fat Greek yogurt, Dreamfields wheat pasta, hummus, tofu, ground chicken, turkey bacon, fruits and veggies and I’m sure the insane amount of food, spices and whatnot at my home can cover the rest. It’s going to take a pretty penny I’m sure, but it’s needed.

My session’s pre-finale involved everybody’s favorite, weigh-in and measurements. Now, I had been bracing myself for these numbers so I was prepared but let me tell you, that didn’t make them any less painful to hear. Ugh.

Here comes the finale. Drum roll please. The insurance that I currently have only covers 3 sessions per year. Awesome. If you can’t smell the sarcasm in that, your nose isn’t working properly.

Here’s my opinion:

My roommate in college was insanely keen on nutrition. Her name was Bri. She probably could have majored in nutrition and taught the Rutgers staff a thing or two about it, but anyway I remember her and I having a conversation about the cost of foods. In general, foods that are better for you cost more. I found this out by shopping at a store, picking up a healthy item and looking at its price compared to its fatty alternative right next to it. Hence the lovely college diet most students are accustomed to. We tried to fight it; I’d say we did pretty well, no freshmen 15 for us. My point is what we discussed in this conversation: you can spend the extra money on the food now or if you continue to live an extremely unhealthy lifestyle, you can pay it in medical bills later.

I’ll take the now option, thank you.

Hey, insurance company, why don’t you take a page from that book?

Anyway, I am fortunate that after three sessions, I won’t be waving goodbye to healthy learning because I will be able to continue my sessions by adding $1 to my co-pay. Take that, insurance!

Next week, I’ll be looking forward to a nicely designed eating and exercise plan and we’ll go over some meal options. Because I had gone there years ago, they still have the data from my metabolic testing. It’ll be re-looked at, reworked and revamped.

My goal in the mean time: eat 6 times a day every 3-4 hours, drink 64oz. of water a day, since my exercise level has hit a whole new low, go to the gym at least twice this week and try out some of the eat this not that options.

In addition to my goals for the week, she suggested a Website to me that I intend to use to the best of my ability: sparkpeople.com. It’s a free Web site designed to be a major resource for those who are on a health mission.

They’ll design meal plans for you if you’d like, it has recipes, chat rooms, you need a resource, I’m sure they’ve got it. The feature I’m sure I’ll be using most is the food diary option that allows you to track what you’ve actually eaten each day. You can search foods and it has those foods and their nutrition information all set. The possibilities are endless. Besides, they already won me over with their photos of people exercising, being thin and smiling about it. Not to mention their display of numbers including the number of calories burned, pounds lost, fitness minutes and cups of water consumed, all by the site’s members. Oh yeah, they’re constantly going up. Awesome. There’s no sarcasm in that.

So, I have my work cut out for me, but again, it’s amazing what a little encouragement and some guidance in the right direction can do.